Heart Aerospace is developing, in Gothenburg, its first battery-driven regional plane. With a capacity to carry up to 30 passengers, the ES-30 comes at a time of fast growth for the company.
Currently, there are 130 employees, from 23 countries, who collaborate with Heart Aerospace. However, its heavy investment in the production of battery-driven planes in Gothenburg, where the company is based, leads the group to believe that by 2025 it will have the need and capacity to increase its team to 500 employees.
Patrik Andersson says he is “very proud that Heart Aerospace has chosen Gothenburg for this stage of its expansion”. Not least because, “in addition to the expansion from 130 to 500 employees, the company’s new projects will also generate 500 extra jobs in Sweden over the next few years”. Especially “once serial production gets underway”, explains the CEO of the Gothenburg Business Region.
Alongside the creation of its ES-30 model, Heart Aerospace is also investing in a new campus for the electric aircraft industry at Säve airport. A project which counts on the contribution and involvement of the airport owner Castellum. “We aren’t just building a new electric aeroplane. We are, above all, developing a new industry,” assures Anders Forslund, founder and CEO of Heart Aerospace.
The new campus
Heart Aerospace’s new facility at Säve airport occupies a three million square meters area around the airport. Called Northern Runway, this important hub for electric mobility will include: a new headquarter, a research and development centre, a prototype hangar, a test-flight hangar, as well as a final assembly hall.
As shared in the press release, “this venture is perhaps the most exciting the European aviation industry has seen in decades”. Was that the reason why the Chalmers University of Technology and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden established the Swedish electric transport laboratory (SEEL) right next to where Heart Aerospace will set up its headquarters?
While designing its concept, the Swedish group is advised by a board. There are 21 established airlines, airport owners, and leasing companies from around the world coming together to help Heart Aerospace make the best decisions for its projects. Air Canada and the Swedish Saab have introduced themselves as future shareholders of this new campus for the electric aircraft industry.
For Mariette Hilmersson, the investments made toward this project “mark a new epoch within the aviation industry. Furthermore, “they are an important milestone in the realization of Gateway Säve as a world-class arena for the development of sustainable mobility solutions and a national centre for fossil-free mobility,” adds the managing director for Castellum Region West.
Regarding deadlines, mid-2024 is pointed out as the year for the completion of the first phase of Heart Aerospace’s expansion. 2026, on the other hand, is the expected time to start testing its new ES-30 electric aeroplane, whose first units are scheduled to begin being delivered to the customers in 2028.
The growth of sustainable mobility in Gothenburg
Gothenburg, one of Sweden’s main cities, is currently taking a strong and progressive position within sustainable mobility. This means that “the region’s importance for the green transition is now even greater, both nationally and internationally”.
A distinction that could only be achieved thanks to the innovative and large-scale investments that Gothenburg has benefited from over the recent years. Namely from companies like Volvo Group, Volvo Cars, Northvolt, Polestar, Geely, Einride, Stena, the Port of Gothenburg, and Wireless Car.
Speaking specifically about Gateway Säve, the Business Region Göteborg has joined forces with Region Västra Götaland to reinforce the operations at this airport. Together they will trace a plan to establish an open innovation environment focused on electrification and electric aviation.
According to Patrik Andersson, “we have here further proof that Gothenburg offers the necessary strengths within future mobility. In this part of Sweden can be found “a strong supply of skills, a labour force with niche expertise, advanced research and a capacity to innovate”. Be it through “Chalmers, relevant testbeds and laboratories or specialist suppliers ” specific the CEO of the Gothenburg Business Region.
Andersson also took the opportunity to state that “few regions can match the scope and depth of the Gothenburg transportation ecosystem”. He also assumed that, because of it, “we expect a growing influx of experience and capital to this city that, in terms of future mobility, is already a world leader”.
